Construction

Marble By 6th century BC, Greeks began to experiment with marble Pros: it looked impressive - creamy white colour and could be cut very finely and polished smoothly. It didn’t need to be painted like other stone. Cons: very dense, heavy stone, prone to cracking in places, and expensive to transport Most famous quarries were at Paros, Naxos and Mount Pentelicon (16km from Athens). The coast of Asia Minor also had plentiful marble quarries. The Parthenon is built of marble from Mount Pentelikon, but its roof tiles are Parian marble.

Quarrying Blocks of marble were cut at the quarry using wooden wedges to roughly the size and shape required by the architect. "Ancones" or lifting bosses were left on the sides for easy lifting. Sometimes holes were drilled in the blocks so that ropes could be passed through for lifting. Even the largest temples tended to be built using blocks small enough to lift fairly easily.

Transport Blocks were transported from the quarry by sleds on tracks, then ox-carts and mule carts. They also probably used rolling wooden frames to haul the marble. Primitive cranes based on pulleys and winches

Construction No putty or cement was used to hold the blocks together. Instead they used metal clamps of various shapes to help to hold the blocks in place (e.g. dovetail, double T, butterfly, or H shapes) Another technique used to prevent the blocks from slipping was called anathyrosis where the outer edges of the blocks were polished smooth, but the inner surfaces were left rough for better grip. Early columns were monolithic but increasingly columns were assembled from several drums. The drums were centred using wooden dowels. The first element to be built on the stylobate was the peristyle (columns all around the outside). Fluting was done only when the building was complete. However, it is believed that the fluting at the very top and bottom was done before the columns were assembled. Tools used for sculpting were mallets and chisels (flat-blade, toothed and claw) Finishing was done by sanding and polishing.

Finishing Touches When the roof tiles were in place (pan tiles joined by ridge tiles), the ends of the cover tiles were decorated with antefixes in the shape of heads or leaves. Finally, 6 acroteria were placed at each corner of the roof and on the point of each pediment. On the Parthenon these were in the shape of huge floral designs. The effect of the antefixes and acroteria was probably to soften the line of the roof. As well as all of this, the building was also decorated with sculpture and painted designs.

Funding The usual main sources of funding for these buildings were: wealthy individuals, fines from enemies or criminals, city taxes, or loans guaranteed by wealthy citizens. From an inscription on the Athenian Acropolis, we see that all of the workers (including the architects) received 1 drachma a day for their labour. This was unusual. The Parthenon took 22 tonnes of marble to build and cost a year's income for the city of Athens. Still not as much as the gold and ivory statue of Athene it was built to house!